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Thread ID: 144152 2017-07-24 20:59:00 Electricity use lakewoodlady (103) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1437603 2017-07-27 08:39:00 Lots of info out there regarding your old Fridge/Freezer ,modern ones use about a third less energy so your old Fridge Freezer is costing a fortune to run

Neighbour was complaining not long ago about their Power Bill,they had 2 Fridge Freezers (1 in garage),2 chest Freezers and another Fridge Freezer in a flat attached to a workshop they rent out with power included

All these were old models

With all the trendy power saving ideas around LED lighting when in fact unless you have heaps of 100 watt bulbs they come a long way down the list of power consumption

Also most LED bulbs are inferior failing long before there recommended life so costing more $$ than they are saving
Lawrence (2987)
1437604 2017-07-27 21:46:00 Whose old fridge/freezer?? pctek (84)
1437605 2017-07-27 21:56:00 Everyones Fridge Freezer

The things that sit nearly silent but draw heaps of power if older
Lawrence (2987)
1437606 2017-07-27 22:26:00 Also most LED bulbs are inferior failing long before there recommended life so costing more $$ than they are saving

try a better brand.
Some brands of light bulbs just dont last, be it halogen, CFL, old school wire (cough cough Philips)
The US brand that made light bulbs that lasted nearly forever went out of businesses long ago . Some bulbs are designed NOT to last .
1101 (13337)
1437607 2017-07-27 22:38:00 www.nzherald.co.nz
"Consumer says a new energy-efficient fridge/freezer will cost you only 32c a day against 51c a day for a 15-year-old model."

approx 50c per day , per fridge.
not that expensive .
Perhaps the neighbour has something else using all the power : maybee that flat has heaters running 10 hours a day. Perhaps alot of hot
water use.
House + workshop + flat : of course the power will cost a bit more than a single house :-)
1101 (13337)
1437608 2017-07-27 22:40:00 We've got an old chest freezer and I'm sure the seal is poked. Probably costs us a fortune. I do have some el-cheapo power meter thing, I should hook it up and see what the freezer is drawing. wratterus (105)
1437609 2017-07-27 23:15:00 Yes, she does use the heat pump. In the mornings and evenings mostly, doesn't always light the fire, she has to rely on her son or others to bring firewood in for her. lakewoodlady (103)
1437610 2017-07-27 23:46:00 I live alone and my power varies between $100 - $180 and I am not at all frugal with it. Heating only costs more than hot water for me during the coldest 2 months of the year, and then only because I'll heat the house all day in the weekends.
My cheapest time of year is spring and autumn when I don't feel the need to use the heatpump at all, summer is cheaper than winter but I do cool the place on hot days so more expensive than spring and autumn. I use a dryer about once a week for 90 minutes, by my calculations that's about $3 a month so hardly that bad (2KW x 1.5h x 4 x $0.25). I think people who complain about dryers must use them a lot more than I do.

On the other hand while I just use whatever I feel like power wise I have taken steps to make the house more efficient over the years:
Switching from incandescent to CFL bulbs - saved about $10 a month,
switching again to LED bulbs - saved too little to notice but I like them better.
Lagging the first meter or so of the hot water pipes I think it made a slight difference to the power bill - shower felt hotter too.
Metroftit double glazing - don't have numbers for this but I think it helped. Turns out throwing away net curtains reduces the r-factor almost as much as double glazing increases it - who knew
Switching from fan heaters to heatpump - actually no real saving but the house is warmer

I've been buying cheap brands of LED from various places but mostly PBtech for years and the only failure I've had is from an expensive philips bulp I bought for the lounge to get higher wattage. Philips has not impressed me with reliability over the years.
I found another cheap brand one at the supermarket to replace it and I'll bet it lasts longer.

I do leave a lot of things on standby for convenience, what's the point of a remote if you have to go turn the wall outlet on manually. Stove is always on at the wall, microwave on all the time, TV, Stereo, PS3, 3 computers, UPS, router, ONT, Fridge, washing machine, dryer, all left on at the wall 24/7 I feel like it maybe costs me $10 - $20 a month for the convenience but I'm not turning it all off for a month to find out.
dugimodo (138)
1437611 2017-07-28 00:36:00 I learnt not to bother or care too much about power usage and related costs. Contact Energy gives 25% discount if bill paid early. My cheap brandless LED's cost about 2 dollars month, rather than 8 dollars or so. But more use and early payment in full, does create/contribute to saving somewhat. I blast the dryer, 2 TV,s, 2x laptops, family with 5 x mobile phones, heater, hot water - to bring it all on. More concerned with drunks/speedsters taking out our power poles - 3 times in last 3 months. Dreaded Power cut - something most would moan about... kahawai chaser (3545)
1437612 2017-07-29 10:05:00 I went with Powershop a few years ago. It was the best for us at the time, but recently I have got the impression the costs seem to be increasing a fair bit, so had a look on line.

This Consumer graph www.powerswitch.org.nz seems to confirm it for my area, will be giving Electric Kiwi a call this week!
Laggard (17509)
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